


Royalty

by JunkFoodEnthusiast



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Other, Prince!Eren, ereri, eventual angst, little bit of Mikannie, riren - Freeform, servant!levi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-01
Updated: 2014-10-01
Packaged: 2018-02-19 11:16:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2386379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JunkFoodEnthusiast/pseuds/JunkFoodEnthusiast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prince Eren must find a bride once he comes of age, which is soon, but he's never met a woman who he's felt a attracted to in a romantic way. He was sure that he did indeed, find women attractive, until he meets a servant who seems to have a stick up his ass.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Ball

It's not that Eren didn't find women attractive, he'd just never met one he could connect on a romantic level. He couldn't really complain, in some countries, people had arranged marriages, at least Eren had the choice of marrying whoever he wanted. The problem was that next year he'd be of age and he still hadn't found a bride. 

And yes, it had to be a bride. Same sex marriage wasn't illegal in the kingdom for the commoners, but it was for royalty. Simply because their children had to be of royal blood, so adoption was out of the question and don't even try suggesting surrogacy. 

As previously mentioned, no, it wasn't that he didn't find women attractive. But king Grisha was starting to worry since Eren had never showed any interest in any woman other than a mutual crush on Mikasa when she was adopted. The king had to admit he'd rather his son turn out gay than with a sister fetish, but either was simply unacceptable. 

Mikasa was also of concern, she spent far too many nights sneaking off with princes, even commoners, and out of all the marriage proposals she received, they'd all been rejected without a second thought. 

He figured the solution would be to throw a big ball with guests from all over the world, surely they'd meet someone there, but so far it hadn't gone as expected.

Eren eyed the crowd as he gracefully made his way down the staircase with his best smile in his formal attire. His hair had been slicked back in vain as his bangs had fallen back down to his forehead before they could fix it. Mikasa walked along side him in her deep red dress, a color she only wore on special occasions and her hair done up with extensions to show off her long neck. 

Some of the guests he had seen before in previous events, but a whole lot more were complete strangers who didn't even look like they lived on the same continent. It was an interesting sight and a perfect opportunity to make friends though he knew that wasn't the reason he was here. After the introduction was done the siblings parted ways heading towards their respective guests. 

Eren bowed and danced with each princess, already getting tired after the tenth but he kept his smile polite and tried his best not to seem disinterested in any way. After all, these women had traveled far and just for just a dance because Eren was sure 'the one" wouldn't be here. 

Each one was probably expecting to be 'the one', but so far they'd all been the same dreamy-eyed types that he'd danced with before. However, the eleventh one was different, she barely talked, just danced as if to get it over with. 

"Princess Annie Leonhart, of the Netherlands." She introduced herself with a curtsy. 

Her dress was a pale green and her blonde hair was done up in a fashionable bun, different from the messy bun he'd seen earlier when she arrived at the castle. The expression on her face suggested this was the last place she'd want to be. 

'You and me both.' Eren thought, allowing himself to get distracted for a moment since she did the same. 

After a while he noticed she wasn't even looking at him. He turned his head slightly to see the gaze was directed at Mikasa, who was dancing with a prince that had a face resembling a horse. Eren wanted to tear them apart, because the guy looked like a douche and she deserved better. It was still strange though, that the princess he was dancing with seemed so fixated on his sister but he decided not to comment on it, instead bowing politely as the song ended and he excused himself to go get some fresh air. 

The women that had been waiting seemed offended that he hadn't taken enough of an interest in them to keep dancing but he pretended not to notice as he squeezed through the crowd of incredibly poof skirts and left the ballroom. Apparently, the dancing had made him dizzy because instead of going through the grand doors that led to one of the gardens he found himself in the hallway. He pinched his nose, making a face of disgust as a horrible smell smacked him. 

"Calm down, princess, it's just puke." A servant he hadn't noticed before rolled his eyes without even looking up as he addressed Eren. 

"Excuse me?" Eren said in surprise.

A prince deserved to be addressed with respect and he could clearly throw this servant out of the country with the snap of his fingers but the man looked up at the prince with the most intimidating look he'd ever seen on such a short person. For some reason he felt small even though he was noticeably taller and a lot more powerful. He decided to let it slide this once. 

"Why is there puke in the hallway?" The prince asked, eyebrows furrowed. 

"Some princess got nervous." The man said simply as he finished mopping it up, getting rid of the smell. 

He grabbed the bucket by the handle in one hand and mop in the other, turning to leave. Eren cleared his throat loudly, demanding the attention of the servant who seemed to be forgetting his manners. 

"What?" The man spit out irritably.

"You're being very rude." 

The servant snorted and turned around to face Eren

"Do you need something, princess?" He said sarcastically.

"I'm not a princess!" Eren blushed. "I'm a man, my sist-" 

"It was a joke." 

"Wel... it was a very bad one " 

"I'm a servant, not a jester." He shrugged, unfazed. "Shouldn't you be in there instead of bothering me?"

He nodded in the direction of the doors that led to the ballroom, crossing his arms. 

"I...just needed a break." Eren looked down at his polished shoes. 

"A break from waltzing and having a feast? I wouldn't want to be you."

"It's not that easy." The younger man spit out, looking back up-well, down-at the rude servant. "Being a prince only looks easy."

"Yeah, it seems exhausting to have people wipe your ass for you after your daily shits."

Eren stared incredulously at the man's vulgar language.

"I clean my own, uh, butt." He defended with an embarrased blush.

"Can't even say 'ass'?" He snorted. 

"I can say it! I just choose not to." Eren glared, though it probably wasn't effective as he felt the hair that managed to stay slicked back initially fell to its usual messy form. "What's your problem, anyway?"

"Brats like you and your sister are my problem." He said plainly, with the same bored expression he'd worn throughout the whole conversation. "You have everything yet you've both been moping around the castle for the past few months, as if something horrible happened when in fact, you're just getting married."

"Look, it's not easy to be pressured into a marriage you're not read-" Eren felt the heat rise to his face and immediately started his rant only to be interrupted by the rude servant. 

"Tch." He started. "Nothing's easy, kid, but it's your job."

"I-I know it's my job, but I'm just saying-"

"Yeah, yeah, it isn't easy." He waved him off. "Look, other people have worse jobs and every job has their sacrifices. Yours is no different, just be grateful it comes with all these comforts."

Eren let the words sink in. The man had a point after all. He did have many comforts and marrying some pretty woman wasn't the worse thing, but he didn't want to have a platonic relationship with his bride. However, he decided to change the subject, since the man probably had a dozen arguments for whatever Eren was about to say. 

"So, you work here?"

"No. I just enjoy crashing parties to clean up puke." He deadpanned, gesturing at the formal servant uniform he was wearing.

"Sorry, I've just never seen you around here before." Eren rubbed the back of his neck. 

"I'm just fortunate enough to work at a different part of the castle, so I don't have to clean up after you brats." The servant picked up the bucket and mop again, turning to leave and giving Eren no chance to answer. 

"Wait." He called out. "What's your name?"

The man turned his head slightly to look at Eren with a threatening look. 

"If you're trying to report me-"

"I'm not. I promise, I just want to know your name." Eren raised his hands defensively. 

The servant contemplated for a moment before answering. 

"Rivaille." He turned and started walking away again. 

"Uh, how do you spell...?" 

"R-I-V-A-I-L-L-E." He answered without turning and walked on as he left the corridor. 

Eren made a mental note and decided to walk back into the ballroom before he was missed, but this time he was distracted by his thoughts of the weird servant. He felt severely offended yet oddly intrigued, wondering when he'd get to see him again.


	2. The Other Side of the Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren roams through a part of the castle he doesn't usually wander through.

Eren couldn't decide how he felt about the man. On one hand, he appreciated the honesty but on the other...Rivaille was rude as hell. All he could think about during the week was of better comebacks that would've been gold at the time but the chance to utter them was gone.

"Eren...Eren." 

He awoke to a flick on the back of his head by Mikasa who was sitting next to him on their desk, the extensions gone from her hair. Apparently he dozed off during the last part of the lesson and that meant he'd have to catch on the next one. He let out a groan. 

"How long ago did the teacher leave?" He asked while stretching out in his seat. 

"A few seconds ago...and he dared to give you a dirty look." She glared at the door the teacher left through. 

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Eren half-joked because he knew that she was more than capable. 

"Of course not." She rolled her eyes. "So, did you not get enough sleep last night?" 

"Yeah, I was up late thinking about stuff."

"The marriage thing?" 

Eren nodded. 

"I already know who I'm gonna marry if nothing else comes along, but don't tell dad, I want to wait until we have no more time left.." She commented as she inspected her perfectly manicured nails. 

"When did this happen, though?" Eren asked, confusion very apparent in his face. 

"At the ball." 

"Wait. The ball actually worked for you?" He asked incredulously. 

"Not really. I just decided to marry prince Jean." She continued, the expression still on his face. "He proposed and I've talked to him at previous parties so I figured, why not? Neither of us are ready so if we don't find someone by that time it's better to marry a friend than a stranger." 

"Oh God." He blurted with a sudden realization. "You mean the horseface you were dancing with?"

"What? He's not that bad...I actually though you two had a certain resemblance for a moment. Maybe it was the hostility." She teased. 

"I'm only hostile with douche bags."

"He said the same when I pointed it out."

Eren scoffed and stood up from their desk. 

"We have the afternoon free, let's go walk around the other side of the castle, we don't go there much." 

"I wish I could, but I'm sparring with Annie one last time since she'll be leaving tomorrow." She stood up as well.

"So it's just you and Annie...?" He waited for her to nod. "What about your lady in waiting and your bodyguards?"

"I gave Christa the day off and trust me, if anything happens we can handle it." She answered and Eren had no doubt about it. "You can come too, if you'd like..."

The invitation was polite but Eren picked up on some reluctance.

"Uh, no that's ok, I wouldn't want to intru-"

"Alright, then, I'll be going now." She kissed his cheek goodbye and walked off quickly. 

It was amazing to Eren that she managed to walk so speedily without tripping over the long flowy dress. Now that he thought about it, she seemed very eager to go see Annie. The two women started out as frenemies but after seeing they were equals in fighting they became good friends. He figured she probably liked the challenge since they were quick to notice that Annie didn't hold back, unlike other delicate princesses and the princes who held back because they didn't want to hurt a 'delicate' princess like Mikasa. He laughed to himself because anyone that knew his sister knew she was anything but delicate.

Eren was so absorbed in his thoughts he barely noticed when he reached the part of the castle he was heading to, but when he got there he faintly remembered Levi worked around there. The man was nowhere to be seen though. This part of the castle wasn't any different from the rest of the castle, other than different angles of the gardens you could say it was exactly the same as the other side. He gave up on finding Rivaille and stood in front of the doors to the balcony, contemplating the view. 

"Oi, can't you see I just mopped there?" A male voice asked irritably. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." Eren turned around wide eyed before seeing who it was. "Wait, Rivaille, was it?"

"You remembered my name, what an honor." The servant deadpanned. "Move over." 

"I don't think you're in any position to be giving orders to a prince." Eren said, annoyed, though a part of him was actually glad to see him, so he moved to the balcony, leaving the door open so he could keep talking to Rivaille and pulled up a chair to sit down facing him. 

The man looked at him for a moment with a raised eyebrow but continued with his task. 

"You were messing up my work." He replied, not bothering to look up. 

"Are you always mopping?" Eren joked. 

"Very funny, brat." The man said sarcastically, still not looking up, which annoyed the prince greatly. 

A comfortable silence fell as Eren watched the man work, the sleeves of his uniform were rolled up all the way, revealing toned muscles and...why was he noticing this? 

"My room needs to be cleaned." Eren commented after a few moments, clearing his throat when Rivaille didn't answer. 

"So?" The servant glared at the interruption. 

"So, I'm ordering you to clean it." 

"I told you I don't take orders from you." 

"Well...I'll fix that." Eren said after an idea sprung to mind. Something that was sure to put the servant in his place. 

"You're gonna go complain to daddy?"

"No! I-" 

"Whatever. Just make sure not to walk on the floor with your filthy shoes before the floor's dry." Rivaille gathered his supplies and started walking off. 

"Hey, I wasn't finished talking." Eren was going to run after him but as soon as his feet was about to touch the still wet floor, Rivaille turned to glare, making the prince swallow hard and take a few steps back. 

The servant smirked at his reaction and continued to walk, leaving Eren stuck in the balcony until the floor dried up. He cursed to himself and tried calling a few after him a few more times only to be ignored

'Am I really this scared of a midget?' He asked himself with a sigh as he plopped back down in his seat, staring at the floor as if that would make it dry faster. 

But he didn't need to worry because the plan he hatched would leave Rivaille no other choice but to follow his orders.

****

Eren liked to think he wasn't spoiled. Ok, so maybe he was a bit spoiled but he wasn't as bad as other princes. He had a certain level of humility and he never made impossible demands. He knew a servant's time was as important as his and he treated everyone with the same respect. But Rivaille treated him as if he were like the princes at the last ball who stuck their noses up at everyone. If he had given off that aura he didn't mean it, but the servant's rudeness was still uncalled for. 

So, he decided that Rivaille would be his new private servant. The idea of someone following him around all the time, tending to his every need wasn't exactly appealing to him. He'd had enough of that when Mikasa first moved in and he liked his privacy, but for some reason the fact that that man wouldn't take orders from him bothered the prince. Not enough to go tell the king about it but enough to want to make him obey somehow. 

So he went to the throne where King Grisha sat and made his request. 

"What brought this on?" The king asked with a confused expression. 

"What do you mean?"

"You've never been interested in one before, I'd just like to know the reason why you are now."

"I just realized things would get done faster for me if I could directly order someone who only works for me to do it."

"I see. Do you want me to fire whoe-"

"No!" Eren said wide-eyed. "No one did anything wrong, I'd just prefer it that way."

"Alright then." The king ordered a man to lineup the servants and Eren specified he'd prefer the ones that weren't on their side of the castle, which the king obviously found weird but didn't comment on. 

The wait for the man to come back was filled with an awkward silence because Eren and his father never talked and he didn't think they'd start now. 

The man came back and it took about 4 lines for Eren to find him. The fucker tried to hide behind the taller servants but it was in vain because they were being ordered from shortest to tallest. Apparently everyone assumed that he'd pick a woman because as soon as he pointed at the man, the confusion was very apparent in their faces. 

"....him?" The man in charge asked, rudely pointing at Rivaille, who scowled. 

"Yes him." Eren said firmly, his eyes letting the servant know who was boss. 

"Levi, from now on you'll be serving prince Eren." The man announced as the servant bowed reluctantly. 

'Fina-wait, Levi?' He thought to himself, staring confusedly at the servant who only gave a discreet shrug in return.

He mentally cursed which was something he avoided doing often but his face contorted into a weird, vindictive grin when he realized this so-called 'Levi'-if that was even his name- would be taking orders directly from him now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was going to update on Mondays but then I remembered Mondays suck so I'll update on Fridays from now on (excluding this friday.) 
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


	3. Eren's Passion

Having Levi as a personal servant wasn't what Eren expected. Well, scratch that, it was exactly what he expected. 

A lot of sass and flicks to the back of the head, forehead, arm, you name it. Every part of him that was not considered sexual harassment to be touched in had been flicked. 

And that was just after a day, after a week it was worse. 

But even if he was an aggressive pain in the ass, Eren had to admit he was wonderful at cleaning. The man left everything spotless, even in the painting room. It was a mess since that's where Eren spent most of his time. He hadn't even ordered Levi to clean the room, the man simply shook his head the moment he went in and cleaned while Eren finished his painting. 

Painting was a passion of his, even if he wasn't that good at it. He would never admit it out loud, but he was very insecure about his work. He worked hard to achieve the results he wanted, unlike his sister, whose talent came naturally. Though they both received compliments, being prince and princess, it was very obvious that her work was prefered. Over the years he got over it, though and now he could focus on painting what he wanted, how he wanted instead of imitating his sister's style.

He tried to paint different subjects each time but most of the time they would revolve around an old legend of the kingdom. The legend tells that the ruins around the kingdom were once walls used to protect humanity from mindless giants and though it hasn't been verified, a large group of people believe this to be true. It is the sole reason why the ruins are still around, as a reminder of that day, even though if said giants were to attack at this point, the population might as well be served on a platter. 

The stories don't just revolve around the giants themselves, but also humans that could turn into them and soldiers that fought to the death to defend humanity. It had always been a fascination of Eren and even though the idea of them sparked anger in him, he couldn't help but paint what he though they looked like. 

Hideous, deformed creatures stood in the middle of beautiful landscapes in most of his paintings, including this one. A beautiful day wouldn't reflect the disaster that a giant caused. The giants didn't destroy nature, humanity did that by itself, but that didn't mean it meant to be destroyed In such a cruel way. Eren had no idea how humanity won if the story was true, and he firmly believed it was, but he was glad every last giant was destroyed. The evildoers of humanity could be taken care of in different ways. 

Eren didn't need much for his passion to be ignited but the legend itself did it faster than anything else, not to mention the clouds in the landscape resembled white turds more than clouds. Levi must've noticed the prince's angry brushstrokes because he turned his head immediately. 

"Is something wrong, your highness?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow, but the last words came out through gritted teeth, like they always did. 

"No." Eren said curtly, he was going to order the servant to keep working but he knew the man would do whatever he wanted either way and he really didn't care at the moment. 

He tensed up when he felt Levi walking up behind him and stopped painting immediately. 

"May I help you?" He asked slowly. 

"No, I was just looking at your work." 

The servant answered with arms crossed, looking at the half-finished painting in concentration. Eren had expected him to share his opinion and was looking forward to it since he knew the man would be honest unlike the other sucks ups but spoke up after a long moment of silence.

"And?" He turned in his stool to look at the man. 

"And what?"

"Is it good?" The prince asked shyly, moving out of the way to grant Levi a better view. 

"You haven't finished it yet." The man stated as if that was obvious. 

"I know that." He glared. "But so far, is it good?"

"How can I judge whether it's good at this point? Paintings look like crap when they're not finished."

"So it does look like crap." Eren said as more of a statement than a question. 

"As far as unfinished paintings go, you could say it's good." Levi sighed at the sight of Eren's slumped shoulders. 

"Well, now you're just saying that to make me feel better."

"Tch. Do I look like the kind of person that just says things to make people feel better?" Levi asked as if he was were genuinely offended by that assumption. "I can say whatever I want, I'm not responsible for anyone's happiness."

"Yeah, I guess." Eren sighed and sat back on his stool. 

"You look like you just gave up on life."

"I did. This looks horrible." 

"I just said it looks good. Is my opinion not important?"

"No, of course it is! it's just..." Eren gestured at the clouds, not knowing how to put it into words. 

"You fucked up the clouds and don't know how to fix it." Levi finished his sentence and took the brush out of Eren's hands once he nodded. "Allow me." 

The servant took the paint palette out of a confused looking Eren's hands and started mixing yellows and reds, making huge blobs over the white clouds. 

"...what are you doing?" Eren asked, trying to stay composed even though he was about to faint. 

"You placed the sun over here," he tapped the yellow orb with his pinky finger, "and the sky is yellow leading to blue which means it's a late noon. So the clouds can't be pure white, you have to make them reflect the light, this one here is closer to the sun so you have to make it more yellow."

He finished off what he was saying by mixing white into the blobs in small circular motions, making the clouds look golden and lead off into greyish white wisps.

"I think...that's it." He said, turning his head with squinted eyes to look at his work. "Yeah that's it, take it from there." 

He gave Eren his palette and brush back, moving towards the bucket of water where he hung his rag. 

"Hey, wait, that looks amazing, how do you know that?" Eren was truly surprised, he himself knew that's what you were supposed to do but he never managed to make it look as natural as Levi did. 

"I had a friend that use to paint." Levi said, looking over to Eren as he wrung the rag he used for cleaning. 

"Had?"

"Yeah, it's not important." The man looked down to the rag, suddenly very concentrated in wringing an already dry rag. 

"But if you were with them long enough to pick up on this stuff, then they must be important." Eren set his things down, ready to listen if the man wanted to talk but he knew it wasn't likely. 

"I didn't say they weren't important. I meant talking about it isn't important."

"Weren't?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Levi said before dropping down to scrub a nonexistent smudge on the floor. 

"You should though, it sounds like you need to get it out of your system." 

"What are you, my therapist?" He snorted. 

"I just want to help." The prince shrugged. 

"I don't need your help." He snapped before softening it up as much as he could, probably because in the short time he'd been working for the prince, Eren hadn't tried to hide how sensitive he was. "I'm alright, really."

"But-"

"Just drop it, alright?"

Eren wasn't about to push what was clearly a sensitive topic, since Levi was completely vague, but he knew better than to believe it was just a friend. 

"Alright." He answered, taking the things back in his hand and turning to the canvas. He was sure Levi would tell him eventually, but not if he kept pushing it. 

He let the man cleaning nonexistent dirt in silence, since he was clearly thinking about something important and put his current work aside to fix the white turds on his old paintings using the new technique he learned.

-

He didn't realize he'd been painting all day. It took him forever to get the clouds done right and even more to repeat on all the others. Once he was satisfied with his work he set them all up next to each other and noticed a great improvement. The clouds gave life to the rest of the landscapes in each painting and he was feeling very proud of himself. 

"You learn very quickly." The prince jumped at the voice coming from the man that snuck up behind him. 

"Oh, it's you, I thought you left a while ago."

"No, I just cleaned the room while you talked to yourself." He said, looking at the paintings more closely. "Your sister came to get you for dinner but you looked like you didn't want to be interrupted so I told her you'd go eat later." 

"Yeah, I did want to finish fixing them today, thank you and thank you for teaching me this." He gestured at the clouds. 

"That was nothing." He waved his hand nonchalantly. 

"It was nice of you though." He said with a soft smile, realizing Levi had been a lot nicer since then, whoever it was he picked it up from, they clearly made him happy. A small pang of guilt hit him at the thought it might've been a girlfriend...or boyfriend, he didn't really know and who was he to judge? But the feeling was unwelcome, there was no reason to feel jealousy, it's not like he liked that asshole just because he finally softened up. "You're very talented."

The comment snapped him out of his musings. 

"Really?" He asked incredulously. 

Somehow a compliment from Levi seemed more honest than compliments from anyone else. 

"Yeah, is that so shocking?" The man asked with a cocked eyebrow. 

"It's really just shocking coming from you."

"I give credit where credit is due." He shrugged. 

"Well, thank you." He smiled softly at the man before turning back to his paintings. "I don't think I'll ever be as good as Mikasa though."

"I actually like your work more."

"Ah-what?" Eren blinked. 

"You heard me, I'm not gonna repeat myself. Is it really that hard to believe, you idiot?"

'Nice' went out the window. 

"It's just...no one's really said that to me before, it's always the other way around." The prince shrugged.

"Well, I can see how that is, hers are neater and more aesthetically pleasing."

Eren stared in confusion. First of all, he had no idea what 'aesthetically' meant, and secondly, he had no idea why Levi was using such a word. 

"Aesthetically pleasing means beautiful."

Apparently the servant was also a mind reader. 

"But I thought you said you liked mine more?" 

"Yeah, hers are nicer to look at but she just paints what she sees. You paint what you feel." He said and continued when he saw that Eren still looked as confused. "I can tell you were angry when you painted these...things."

He waved his hand in the direction of the paintings of giants. 

"Hell, I'm pissed right now looking at it. That's the effect your work has, whereas hers makes me feel nothing at all. And trust me, I can tell the difference between her elegant brushstrokes and your murderous ones."

"Wow, I've never heard anyone say anything like that before." Eren said despite the sudden giddiness inside him from the compliment. 

"Well, you just heard it." 

"Thank you...it means a lot to me. How do you get all that anyway?"

"Like I said, my friend was a painter."

"So, was your friend trying to teach you to paint?" He asked, hoping to catch him off guard while he was being talkative.

"No, I've never been interested in it." 

The plan failed. 

"But, you seem to know a lot about art in general."

"I'm a very smart guy."

"Humble too, apparently."

"Yeah." Levi snorted, taking a step back from the painting. "Are you going to dinner now or what?"

"Everyone's finished right?"

"Probably, it's been about an hour since your sister came to get you."

"Can you bring the food up to my room?" Eren asked as he organized the dried canvases on his side of the room, apart from Mikasa's. 

"Yes...your highness." He said, again with gritted teeth. 

"Did you eat dinner yet?" 

"No, I have to eat after you go to sleep." 

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"Well, now you know."

"Bring food for yourself then, we can eat together."

"...I don't think we're supposed to eat together." He answered with a cocked eyebrow. 

"It's just dinner." The prince shrugged. "I don't like eating alone and there's nothing that says you can't eat with me if I request your company."

"Fine." He sighed and continued to walk out the door. "But it'll take me a while to go from the servant's kitchen to yours so you better not fall asleep while you wait."

"I'm not going to but you don't need to do that, just go get yourself a plate from our kitchen." He said, leaning out of the doorway. 

Levi stopped dead in his tracks to look at the prince. 

"Ok, that's completely against the rules, your highness." As expected, the words came out through gritted teeth. "I can't eat the same food you do." 

"I'm ordering you to." 

"And the chef will totally believe me." He said, sarcasm dripping from his mouth. "Do you invite all of your servant's to dinner or am I just special?"

"You're special..." He blurted without a thought. 

"....hm." Levi said simply before continuing to make his way down the wall. 

Eren was left wondering what that meant as he finished putting the painting away and leaving the unfinished one on the easel to continue some other time.


	4. Deep in the Closet

As expected, Levi hadn't arrived yet when Eren entered his room, giving him time to think about the servant's response. Maybe he was overreacting, but knowing Levi, it could've meant anything from a sound of indifference to a sound of approval. You never knew with that guy.

He didn't want to give the man the wrong idea, after all, telling someone they're special could be interpreted in any way. Though he doubted that Levi even thought about the compliment. He was probably thinking about cleaning or how annoying the prince was. So, the boy had nothing to worry about.

But that didn't stop him from freaking out about it. His mother always said he was a neurotic one and she couldn't possibly be more correct. However, the anxiety melted away as he heard the door open and the smell of roast beef filled his nostrils.

"Where will we be eating?" The raven-haired man asked as soon as he was in.

The rumble of his stomach said he was just as eager to dig in as Eren, making the prince chuckle despite the glare he received. The man's face looked conflicted, like he didn't approve of eating dinner alone with the prince but the temptation lying on the silver platters was too great.

"We can go eat on the balcony, so the smell won't linger in here." Eren said at once, leading the way to the big vine-covered balcony.

There was a table in the middle that had yet to be readied for dinner so he stood back as Levi took the silver way from the cart he was carrying the platters on and set the table neatly, even taking the time to fold the napkins. Eren sat down as soon as Levi was finished and waited eagerly for the platters to be uncovered.

Once they were, they revealed a heaping plate of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and a couple of rolls of bread. The meal was smaller than usual, probably because of how late it was but he wasn't complaining.  
"I'm starving." Eren commented to break the silence as he started cutting the meat.

"You and me both." Levi managed to spit out.

The servant had been staring at his own plate, eyes glittering.

"Is it different than what they serve you guys?" Eren asked curiously with his cheeks stuffed.

"Definit-oh God, you're a prince, close your fucking mouth when you chew. It's disgusting." He glared at the brunette.

"Sorry." Eren smiled in amusement after swallowing.

"I swear you aren't a prince. You have no table manners and you have the grace of an elephant-take your fucking arm off the table." He swatted the offending appendage away, scoffing and Eren couldn't help the laughter pouring out of his throat. "What's so funny, you brat?"

"Nothing, it's just funny how you get all riled up over this stuff." He managed to say after regaining his composure but the wide smile was still on his face. "I just save the manners and grace for special occasions. Why be so formal over dinner with a friend?"

Levi raised an eyebrow at the title.

"Friend? Kid, you do realize I just work for you right? We're not friends."

"I know, but who said a servant can't be a friend?"

"I don't think friends wipe their friends' asses."

"You don't wipe my ass." Eren rolled his eyes, already use to the vulgarity. "And we spend pretty much all day together, every day and we talk sometimes. That sounds like a friend to me."

"Clearly, you need a dictionary and a new tutor." Levi spat before finally taking a bite of the beef, letting it rest in his tounge, savoring the food before swallowing. "It's so good."

He moaned the words, the sound being sensual enough to make Eren blush. It didn't go unnoticed judging by the smirk on the man's face but he had the good sense not to comment on it.

"What do they feed you guys anyway?" The prince asked after an awkward silence, both shoveling food into their mouths.

"Usually soup and bread. But it's good and sometimes we get stew so I can't really complain." Levi answered, being well-mannered enough to swallow and dab his mouth with a napkin before speaking. "It's nowhere near as good as this, though."

"I can imagine. If you enjoy the meal this much, I wouldn't mind eating together every night."

"Don't count on it. It's still against the rules and I'm not losing my job over a lonely teenager."

"You know very well I'm 21." Eren glared. "It was just a suggestion, frankly, so far I prefer eating with you. It's much more interesting than eating in silence with my father and sister."

"Yeah, after all, I'm special, right?" He teased, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Yes, of course." Eren rolled his eyes again, trying to appear as though the comment didn't make his anxiety return, he'd ever been good at acting but he was lucky Levi didn't comment on it. "Like I said, I consider you my friend."

"Do you usually invite your 'friends' on dates?"

Eren almost choked on his wine.

"This isn't a date!" Eren all but yelled as he finished coughing.

"Right. Two men alone on a vine-covered balcony, eating dinner with wine under a beautiful starry night, the moon shining on my beautiful pale skin and your brilliant God-knows-what colored eyes as we converse...not to mention your bedroom is like, right there." He finished his sentence by pointing with his thumb at the tall doors that led to the bedroom.

Eren thought the words up until the last part were almost poetic with that beautiful, smooth voice. He wouldn't mind listening to it before drifting off to sleep. But maybe it wasn't just the voice that made him so entranced, maybe, it was the piercing gaze that he previously thought were from grey-colored eyes but now looked blue. He had to admit the man was quite attractive.

Coming from a straight man's point of view, of course.

He hadn't realized he had been staring until a hand, that he thought was too dainty to belong to such an asshole, waved in front of him.

"Anyone in there?" The servant asked with a smug smirked.

Eren shook his head and blinked before trying to form coherent sentence.

"Uh, yeah." He rubbed his own neck before continuing. "So, let me guess: your friend was some kind of poet too?"

"You bet she was." The man answered, almost proudly.

"She?"

"She?" Levi repeated the question sarcastically. He clearly didn't understand why Eren was surprised, but the prince was surprised because Levi had been so vague he'd even left out the gender.

"Was she your girlfriend?"

He was surprised to hear the closest thing resembling laughter that he thought Levi could manage spilling from his mouth.

"That's none of your business but no, she wasn't my girlfriend." The raven-haired man was still chuckling as if it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

"Why is that so funny?"

"I would never have a girlfriend." He said, sounding almost offended that Eren would imply such a thing.

"...you're gay?"

"Yes, genius. Does that make you uncomfortable, princess?"

"No, of course not! I was just surprised...but I won't judge you. This kingdom is very diverse anyway."

"Yeah, so diverse they won't let the royal gays marry." He said, taking a sip of his wine before continuing. "How'd you and your sister break it to the king of diversity anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Eren blinked in confusion for a few seconds. "...Oh. I'm not gay, and neither is Mikasa."

He wasn't offended by the accusation because he frankly didn't care.

"Kid, you're gay and not subtle at all. You've been checking me out since I've started working for you."

"Not true!" Eren blushed furiously.

"I've. Seen. You. Doing It."

"You were just imagining it."

"Yeah sure. It's my wildest fantasy to have a 20-year old pervert looking at my ass."

"Ok, fine, think whatever you want to think, but how's Mikasa gay?" Eren asked confusedly, after all Mikasa was always sneaking off with men, so how could she be gay?

"Maybe not gay, bi definitely."

"Mikasa...? But she's always with boys."

"And girls."

"I'm pretty sure she's only sneaked off with boys."

"I've seen her, Eren."

"When!?"

"I've seen her kissing this really short blonde girl a couple of weeks ago."

"...Christa? But she's her lady in waiting and she has a girlfriend."

"I don't know her name but maybe."

"Wow..." Eren said, deep in thought. This wouldn't change the way he saw her but she'd definitely get into trouble if the king found out and it's not like he could confront her about such a delicate situation. He wondered how Mikasa could be such a home wrecker and how Christa could do such a thing, after all, he'd seen her girlfriend a few times and she was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

But whatever it was he had no business interfering, she'd tell him eventually.

The rest of the dinner was a bit awkward, at least to Eren, who was still letting the information sink in that his sister might be involved with someone's who already taken.

"You gonna eat that?" Levi asked once his own plate was clear.

"Knock yourself out." Eren pushed his plate, that only had a bit of meat left to Levi's side and watched him eat.

"Stop staring at me. This really doesn't help your 'straight' case."

"Whatever." Eren rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure myself, I can look at whoever I want."

"There's a fine line between looking and checking out." Levi pointed out. "See? Those eyes aren't looking at me, they're checking me out."

"Oh please, finding some men attractive does not mean you're gay." Although Eren believed he couldn't stop the blush from rising up again.

"You fully just confessed on your own that you find men attractive."

"I find SOME men attractive. It doesn't mean anything. You're clearly handsome and I realize that, it doesn't mean I'm gonna jump your bones."

"But you'd like to, is that what you're saying? Cause I'm flattered."

"Levi!"

"Yeah, say my name again, baby."

Eren let out a groan as he slapped his own forehead. 

"Well this has been fun, but I have to tuck you away now. Don't get too excited." Levi said as he stood up and walked inside the bedroom. "Well?"

The man tapped his foot impatiently and Eren followed him in. Levi started undressing the prince which was routine and he did that every day but this time it was weird to Eren. Maybe it was the fact that he was completely aware how attractive Levi was...for a man, that is. He suddenly felt self-conscious of being completely naked in front of the servant, even though he had nothing to be ashamed of really and he doubted that Levi cared enough to be checking him out. 

The pijamas were shoved over his head, something he was now use to due to Levi's gentleness-deficiency, and he was very aware of Levi being on his knees to slip his underwear on but if the man's course of thought was on the same track as Eren's he didn't show it. 

"All right, you can stop holding your breath now." Levi announced, walking over to the bed and shoving the blankets back. 

"I wasn't..." Eren muttered grumpily as he lied down in his bed. "Goodnight."

Levi said it back before turning the lamp off and Eren listened to the sounds of the man closing the door and taking the cart out of the room before he realized Levi had skillfully dodged any attempts Eren made to get to know him and it kind of pissed him off to see how easy it was for him to do. He drifted off to sleep muttering obscenities and thinking up strategies to make Levi's tongue slip out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was supposed to update yesterday but it wasn't finished so I left it for today. I know this is kind of slow build but hopefully in a chapter or two they'll get somewhere and I can write better dialogue. Thank you for reading! <3


	5. Cross Dressing

Saturdays were nice, there usually wasn't any work to do and Eren could unwind with his friends. This also meant Levi had the day off, which Eren was surprised to find kind of disappointed him. It had only been a few weeks but he'd gotten use to having Levi follow him around grudgingly. 

"Eren...Eren?" The prince was taken out of his thoughts by the duke's grandson sitting across from him. 

"Yes, Armin?" 

"You zoned out again. If this is a bad time we can come back later." Armin said, a hint of concern in his voice.

"No, of course not. My apologies, I was just thinking." Eren said quickly. "You were saying, Connie?"

He really felt guilty for not listening, after all, Connie wasn't around often anymore. 

"I was just saying that I'm kind of worried, there's rumors of an upcoming battle." The newly-turned knight said. 

"That sounds horrible." Eren's eyes widened. 

"Yeah...'knight' is a cool title but I kind of wish I was still a squire." Connie shrugged. "They don't have to go directly into battle."

"But, we don't know for sure if it'll happen." Armin chimed in. 

"I know, I'm kind of overreacting, I was just worried." Connie looked out to the garden from the table they were sitting on briefly before turning his attention back to them. "So, Eren, have you found a princess yet?"

"Nope." He shook his head. "They all just want to dance and they expect me to whisper sweet nothings into their ears within five minutes of meeting. They never want to have real conversations."

"Well, you can't really blame them." Armin shrugged. "Princesses are usually just seen as prizes to marry. They're use to being treated as such and being romanced by princes without so much as a 'hello' and it's not like their parents really encourage them to think or say anything important."

"I know, I just don't want to have to marry some ditzy princess with her head in the clouds." Eren sighed. "I did meet one that isn't like them, though. She doesn't talk much but she isn't all giggly and obsessed with her looks either."

"Is she pretty?"

"Pretty enough." Eren shrugged. 

"Does Mikasa like her?"

"Sort of. They hated each other at first but I guess they're kind of friends now, they spent a lot of time together while she was still here. Now Mikasa's visiting her in her kingdom, actually."

"Wow. Sounds like the closest thing to 'the one' to me." Connie smiled and winked. "You should ask for her hand before someone else does." 

"We'll see." Eren shrugged. "What about you?"

"Well, I'm lucky that I can marry whenever. I just want to take it easy." He said, leaning back and using his hands for support. "Besides, I haven't found a girl that's my type. Armin, you're lucky you found Mina."

"Yeah..." Armin smiled with a soft blush. "What is your type anyway?"

"I didn't even know you had a type." Eren joked. "Could've sworn you were aromantic."

"Well, I'm not. I want a girlfriend that's tall-"

"But you're so short." Eren interjected. 

"Shush, Eren, I like my women tall. Like an amazon." Connie said with a sparkle in his eyes. "Also, she has to have a big appetite, I don't like girls that are scared to gain weight. And she has to be cool, funny and have a beautiful smile. Otherwise, It's a no go."

"Sounds like you have high standards."

"I didn't even finish. She needs to be energetic and have big, warm ey-Alright! Lunch is here!" He threw his fists in the air as a tall girl carried a platter with a bowl of fresh bread covering her face. 

She set it down on the table, revealing big, brown eyes on tan skin and her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Wispy bangs and two loose strips of hair framing her face. 

"Lunch is running a little late, so here's some bread to hold your hunger for a few minutes." She flashed a smile and bowed, one arm behind her back before leaving with a bounce in her step.

Connie proceeded to stuff his face with bread before Eren spoke up. 

"Did you guys notice something?" Eren grinned. 

"That she probably stole some of our bread?" Armin said after nibbling on his slice. 

"Did she?" 

"Well, usually there's more in the basket and she kept hiding her hand from our view so it's a safe bet." Armin shrugged. "Also, she matched Connie's physical description of his perfect girl and the bounce in her step indicate she is the energetic type. Plus, the fact that she's willing to steal bread directly under our noses means she's either too poor to eat enough or loves eating. We can discard the former because judging from her overall appearance she's quite healthy, so it must be the latter." 

Eren and Connie just stared at him for a few minutes before Eren dropped the bread from his mouth. 

"...I was just gonna say there was steam coming out from her hand. I guess that's why." 

"I didn't catch any of that, though." Connie said, brows furrowed before wriggling them. "But anyway, that girl was really pretty. Think she'd go for a knight in shining armor?"

Armin sighed before shaking his head with a smile. "I don't know, why don't you go talk to her?"

"I will." Connie stood up as if Armin just suggested the best idea ever and slicked back his nonexistent hair. 

Armin and Eren said 'good luck' at the same time as he walked away confidently. 

"So, Eren..." Armin started as he set down his bread on the plate. "I heard you have a personal servant now."

"Yeah, but it's his day off." 

"Ah." He nods, and appeared as if he wasn't going to talk about the subject any further since the bread was still warm and waiting for him but Eren sure wanted to about it further. 

"I wonder what servants even do outside the castle." More like he wondered what Levi was doing at the moment. 

"Um, well, I guess they go visit family or their lovers, since they live without them during the rest of the week."

Did Levi have a lover? Not that Eren was jealous, of course not, that weird pang in his stomach was just the bread. It was probably stale. 

"Must be hard living away from the person you love." Armin commented as he buttered the bread. 

Eren was jealous. As a friend of course, was this guy treating Levi right? He had to know. And if they were apart, well Eren would have to help. 

"Armin, I need to see what Levi is doing." 

Said blonde almost dropped his bread in confusion. "What?"

"My servant, Levi. I need to know what he's doing." 

"But, why?"

"I'm just curious." 

It was a dumb excuse and Armin knew better but didn't comment on it. After some convincing Eren managed to get Armin to go along with him. They would've gotten Connie too, but when they went to get him, another maid informed them that he'd left taken the brown haired maid out to town. Good for him. 

So, Eren and Armin were going to sneak out, but before that, they'd need costumes. 

A well-kept secret that never left the castle was King Grisha's balding hair. In his younger years while he was still a prince, his hair was long and full and beautiful and the stories say he used his luscious hair to win the heart of the beautiful princess Carla. But alas, over the years he had began balding, leaving a shiny patch of skin surrounded by thinning brown locks. He couldn't just lose that trademark, no way. So, he built a wig closet. 

They were all the same long wigs, except maybe a few had differently styled fronts and a few were a bit shorter than others, but overall, they were all straight and dark. Eren snuck in without a problem and styled on a wig with the assistance of a maid he could trust to keep quiet. Armin wore one too but with a nice, curly fringe from the times of Grisha's midlife crisis. 

The maid did their makeup, borrowing it from Mikasa and also dresses from her wardrobe. Eren had to admit he and Armin were beautiful girls. Not that Armin needed much to look like a girl, but he looked extra 'girl' and it suited him.

Sneaking out wasn't hard, most of the workers simply assumed they were friends of the prince, even though the similarities were uncanny. Eren was pretty sure that rumors of two love childs would arise but he couldn't care less at the moment, his mind was set on finding Levi. 


	6. In Town

As soon as they got to town they realized one thing: they had no idea where Levi was or where he lived. But, that didn't discourage Eren, he didn't get out much so being in town released all the energy he had been holding back. Soon after, he even forgot what he was supposed to be doing, and so did Armin since he was chasing after Eren who kept flashing his panties to the locals as he tried to jump up on the rooftops to get a better view of the town. 

The unsuspecting men had been eager to get a peek when the skirt was lifted in the air but were visibly shocked as they simply saw a bulge, except for some who seemed to be into that. Good for them. 

"Eren...you should really calm down. " Said Armin, out of breath and cheeks flushed. 

"But Armin, this is awesome!" Eren said, eyes brightening as he spotted an ice cream stand and pulled Armin with him.

Armin would've protested if he hadn't seen the ice cream stand himself. Of course, the castle had ice cream, but this stand had ice cream in CONES. All they had were fancy bowls. And that would never compare to eating the whole ice cream, sugary cone included. 

"B-but Eren, we don't have any money on us..." Armin looked longingly at the cone displays on the stand. 

"Don't worry, I have an idea."

As soon as Armin turned around, Eren was already gone and batting his eyelashes at some random pair of men. His eyes widened as he observed the tan male adjusting his dress flirtatiously and flipping the very obviously fake hair. 

Moments later, Eren was walking back between both men, linking his arms with them. 

"Ar-iel." Eren noticeably sighed of relief as he saved himself from calling Armin by his real name. "These gentlemen said they'd pay for our ice cream." 

"Unbelievable..."

"It's so hard to find real men these days that would pay a couple of ice cream for two young ladies without anything in return."

As he said this the men raised their eyebrows, since they were obviously expecting something, but they'd already payed and Eren took the ice cream from their hands with a flirty ' thank you ' and bolted with the cones, Armin in tow.

"I can't believe you, Eren."

"That's Irene."

"Oh gods."

Armin stopped facepalming once Eren shoved the cone in his face, leaving a bit of ice cream on his nose.

"You're horrible."

"Calm down, I'll clean it up." He said, getting real close to Armin and wiping it off the blonde's nose to lick it off his own finger. 

"So, now you're gay and you cross dress." 

Eren turned around quickly to see the source of the familiar voice. 

"Levi!" He launched himself at the shortie for a hug. 

"Oi, don't touch me..." Eren didn't listen, "you're crumpling them!"

Eren pulled apart to see a bouquet of magnolias between them. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was excited." He apologized with a sheepish smile. "This is my friend, Armin."

"Just friends?"

"We're not gay!" They exclaimed in unison.

"I believe it from the coconut." Levi nodded in Armin's direction and spoke up before either could retort. "What's with the gettup?"

Eren and Armin looked at each other, well, Armin glared, seeking an explanation. 

"We just felt like dressing up and going out." Armin answered with a nervous smile. 

"Without your bodyguards?"

"That's why we're dressing up."

There was an awkward silence because Levi obviously didn't look like he believed it and stared at them instead of speaking. 

"So...flowers." Eren spoke up. 

"Flowers."

"Mhm, are they for your boyfriend?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

"I don't see how cross dressing is any of yours."

"Touché." Levi nodded but didn't answer the question. 

"Well?"

"Well?"

Eren was getting real fed up with this asshole repeating things he wanted to get out of answering.

"Are they for your boyfriend!?"

"Don't have one. I'll be going now, nice chat." He said, leaving and waving over his shoulder. "Nice meeting you, coconut."

"That guy's really mean." Armin said. 

"He's an asshole." Eren confirmed. "But he's cool."

"I fail to see the cool."

"Whatever, we have to follow him."

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to be followed."

Eren 'tched, a habit picked up from the servant. 

"Sure he does, and if we had been actively looking for him we wouldn't have found him. This is clearly fate."

"You've been very weird lately, Eren." Armin said, a worried expression clear on his face. "And I'm not going along with this, I haven't even finished my ice cream."

Ice cream dripped over the cone. 

"But that's the only reason we came here!" 

"I don't even know how you convinced me to come, I don't believe you're just curious, even for a second." 

"I just..."

Eren trailed off, not knowing how to explain. 

"I see." Armin smiled knowingly. "I'm going home, go find him. But you owe me your cone for making me come all the way here dressed as a girl."

Armin walked away with a 'goodbye' and Eren's cone in his hand. Eren didn't even have time to respond because he was just confused about what Armin could possibly think this was about when Eren didn't even know himself. 

He walked in the direction he saw Levi take off. It took him forever to find the small body in the sea of locals who decided to all go shopping on the same fucking day. But he found him, and kept walking at a steady pace behind him

His eyebrows raised as he saw the short male walking into the cementary. Of course, he should've guessed it was that since the man did mention he didn't have a boyfriend and he was too gay to have a girlfriend, but for some reason he hadn't thought of it. 

He instantly regretted following him since this was a very personal thing, who know who Levi had lost? But, his curiously led him to follow all the way up the gravestone the man was visiting and it turned out to be two. He hid behind a tree, about to leave thinking he had been very stealthy until-

"I can see you, Eren." Levi was looking directly at him and he sounded angry.


	7. Walk in the Graveyard

Eren stayed frozen in his spot because even though from the corner of his eye he could see Levi looking at him, somehow he felt like staying still would magically get him out of the situation. 

"You really don't know when to stop, do you?" Levi said, sanding up and leaving the flowers between the two grave stones. 

"I...I just..." Eren cursed himself for being such a stuttering idiot lately. "I'm sorry, I was just curious..."

Yeah he fucked up, and it was a lame excuse, and this sure didn't help his case of 'I'm straight and not interested in you no matter what you think'. And that's pretty much the only thought that ran in his head other than how itchy the wig was. 

"I don't even know what to say." Levi admitted, he looked pissed beyond belief, but who wouldn't be after being stalked? "What were you even curious about?"

"I don't know, really." Eren shrugged. "It's just, you were carrying flowers and -"

"Jealous much?"

"No!"

"Mhm, look, do me a favor and just stop being such a nosy brat. Maybe you're use to everyone knowing every aspect of your life, but mine is private and it's none of your business."

Eren felt ashamed of course, but instead of his shame making him run away, it just made him push further. Eren knew no boundaries, privacy be dammed. 

"I know I'm way out of line, but like I said, I consider you my friend, and I know I've only known you a few months and I don't know anything about you, and you clearly don't want me too-" He took a deep breath. "But I want to, It's weird as fuck to be with someone every day whose as closed off as you."

"Is any of that my problem?" Levi said, looking bored. "Because as far as I know, you're not my therapist, and my job is strictly to cater to your needs, not entertain you with my problems."

He was absolutely right and it absolutely pissed Eren off to the point he had no answer. 

"I came here to be alone and enjoy my time away from you."

That hurt way more than it should have. 

"Fine...I was just trying to help." Eren muttered before turning to leave. 

"Wait."

"Yeah..?" He turned back hesitantly. 

"Look, please don't cry about it, I didn't mean it."

And that's when Eren noticed the tear slipping down his cheek and wiped it away with his cheek, but he glared. 

"I know I'm a dick, but you do understand why I'm mad, don't you?"

Apparently crying really softened Levi up, probably because no one wanted to be responsible for making royalty cry. 

"Are you gonna answer me or are you just gonna stand there?"

Eren didn't answer, just kept looking down at the floor.

"I'm always trying to get you to shut up and the one time I'm trying to talk to you, you go mute." He said incredulously. 

Eren didn't quit his silence, feeling a mixture of shame, annoyance and frustration. He would've screamed if he wasn't in a cementary. 

"Fine, stand there then." Levi said dismissively, sitting back down in front of the stones. 

Eren looked up at the silence and sat down next to him, immediately receiving a glare. 

"I didn't say you could join me."

"It's a free kingdom, I should know, I'm next in line to rule it."

Levi obviously looked annoyed by his interrupted peace but said nothing about it, instead choosing to say something else. 

"At least take that shit off," he gestured at the face full of makeup and tugged the wig off, "there's no one around and I'm getting creeped out."

"Aren't I hot as a girl?" Eren tried to joke in attempt to lighten the mood. 

"You are, that's why I'm creeped out."

It sort of worked. 

"Can you at least tell me who you're visiting?" He asked a bit shyly and it Levi hesitated, biting his lip before speaking. 

"Don't think I'm gonna start telling you everything about my life from now on." He warned. "But, even I have to admit it'd be nice to talk about them."

He looked conflicted and Eren just stayed silent, not wanting to push it, because he'd made progress, since it wasn't very apparent but the man was a bit less hostile after the dinner they shared. He was snapped out of his musings as Levi took the bouquet and split it, leaving a half on each grave. 

Farlan Church and Isabel Magnolia. 

"I'm not gonna tell you my whole life story, that's a part the part I want private. I don't want you to think we're best friends now, you're still my boss."

They totally were in Eren's opinion. 

"These were my friends, they were good people and they deserve to be talked about, they were the only people I could ever consider my friends and they didn't deserve to die."

"How'd they die?"

"I was getting to that, you impatient brat."

"Right. Sorry."

"It's ok. We came from France, looking for jobs and shit. Isabel was this amazing artist, so we let her stay at home to work on her art. She tried to sell works, but you know how the art world is: no one buys anything unless you're famous. But, she kept trying anyway, and got a few buyers, but just as she was starting to known, these...people...found us, and next thing I know I'm home and the first thing I see is the closest thing to a sister motionless on the floor."

Levi rubbed his eyes, but no tears were there and Eren reached for his hand, because it was the only thing he knew how to do when people were upset. He was surprised when Levi didn't swat it away and just squeezed his hand back. 

Eren was glad they were getting somewhere, but he was still confused about things he really couldn't ask about. Like, why did they even come to the kingdom for jobs instead of staying in France? Why would some random people be looking for them in the first place? Why did they kill Isabel? What didn't Levi get a job at the castle sooner? They always looked for extra servants, especially when Queen Carla was still alive and determined to not leave anyone unemployed. 

"How long ago did it happen?"

"About seven years ago. Farlan was a year younger than me but Isabel was just sixteen."

The queen was definitely alive back then, she only died five years ago. 

"I'm so sorry for your loss...what happened to Farlan?"

"He couldn't drop it, he knew very well we were outnumbered, and he would've normally backed off, but I guess he went a bit crazy and chased after them, I went along to stop him when I found out what he was doing but it was too late. I thought I'd be next and I was waiting...hoping for it, even, but they never came. They decided I'd suffered enough as payback. They decided to let me live with the blame."

"But it wasn't your fault." Eren furrowed his thick eyebrows. 

"It was. I just haven't told you about, and I'm not going to. But, trust me, I'm not innocent in all of this."

Eren was still confused, and it made him conclude things he didn't want to think about. Levi couldn't be the kind of person who did things bad enough to be punished so harshly for." 

"I won't judge you." He said firmly, and it was true. 

Levi looked at him for a moment. 

"I know you won't, but I still don't want to talk about it." He dismissed, looking down at their hands and the contrasting colors. 

"My sister squeezes my hand when I'm feeling down." Eren explained sheepishly. "I thought it might make you feel better."

"I'm not complaining." Levi shrugged. "It happened years ago, though. I don't cry over it."

"But you lose sleep over it." Eren guessed, by the dark circles around Levi's eyes. 

"I lose sleep over a lot of things."

"You can talk about it if you want, I'm listening." Eren offered after a while of silence. 

"That's alright, I've talked enough for today." He said, letting go of Eren's hand and standing up. Eren frowned before Levi spoke again. "Let's go take a walk or something, my ass hurts from sitting on the ground."

It took a few moments for Eren to realize what he was saying so he just sat there. 

"You wanna hang out with me...? You're not mad anymore?" 

"Well, I can't exactly talk to them now, since you're around and I'm not letting you walk alone around town, you'll be eaten alive, and I doubt they'll miss me for one day." He sighed. "I'm not mad anymore."

Eren stood up and grinned, following Levi to the exit gate.

"Wipe the rest of that makeup off, by the way, it's creepy."

"I thought it was hot?"

"I thought I told you I was creeped out by that?"

He threw a hankerchief on Eren's face and the boy rolled his eyes, wiping as much off as he could. 

He'd definitely made some progress, because for the rest of the day Levi wasn't as rude as he normally was. That didn't mean the insults were any less but they were more out of amusement and it was nice. Maybe then they could actually be friends and Eren wouldn't feel so awkward having a servant follow him around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the angst is still far off, I planned on making this chapter a bit darker but I just thought they weren't quite there yet. But, next chapter will have a fluffy scene and I love fluff so I'm very giddy thinking about it. Thanks for reading <3


	8. In the Garden

Mikasa came back from her trip to Annie's kingdom about two weeks later. 

Eren was still confused over the supposed relationship between Mikasa and Christa but he hadn't talked to her about it, he hadn't talked about it to Levi either. But, he did glare at them sometimes when they were together, because he really had no tolerance for people who cheated on their partner, and Mikasa didn't have a partner but she was technically engaged to Jean and Christa had an official relationship with a dame that trained with Connie. 

He made a point not to talk to her much, because she still hadn't told him anything and other than feeling upset she was that type of person, he also felt upset that she wouldn't share something that important with him. He shared everything with her. Except maybe his totally friendly obsession with a certain servant but that was different. That didn't ruin anyone's life.

So, that's why Eren was slouching, arms crossed and his seat dragged as far from Mikasa as possible, which wasn't much since they were sharing a desk. Occasionally he'd shoot her a side glare and she looked just as confused as she was when she arrived and Eren just gave her a curt greeting before going back to his room instead of jumping into her arms like usual. 

The teacher finished his lecture on the economy, not that Eren was listening, and packed up his things, leaving an assignment that also went unheard by Eren. His chair screeched as he stood up abruptly, only to be held back by the strong hand on his shoulder. 

"Eren...are you mad at me?" She asked with worried eyes and Eren almost felt bad for handling the situation so immaturely, his usual approach being a lot more blunt. But, he just couldn't handle confronting Mikasa, he just wanted her to go first.

"No." He said curtly, shrugging Mikasa's hand off. 

"You're mad at me."

Eren glared, taking in her features. She didn't exactly look different but there were a few changes like the fact that she was letting her hair grow by an inch or two when it would've been cut by then and she was wearing her red scarf, she wore it very often but not when the heat outside was unbearable. Probably hiding a hickey from Christa. 

"Eren, please talk to me. Why are you mad? Have I done something?" The panic in her eyes was unbearable and the prince sighed.

He really didn't want to worry her, and she gets worried over every little thing regarding their relationship. 

"I'm just being stupid, don't worry about it." He lied, shaking his head. 

"Then why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"This is just my face. I swear." He brought his hands up defensively.

"Ere-"

"Mikasa, please." He brought a hand to hold hers. "I'm sorry, ok? I was just having a bad week."

Her face softened and she tugged Eren's hand to give him a hug. He guessed she didn't actually believe it. 

"You can tell me if you're mad at something I did. Please, tell me." She hugged tighter. "I like it better when you're blunt than this."

He petted her hair and hugged back, but he wasn't gonna say it yet, because it was a delicate situation. 

"It's ok, don't worry. I promise there's nothing wrong." He pulled back. "Anyway, I have to go, so I'll see you later, ok?"

"Oh, well, I was hoping we could walk around or something. It's been two weeks and I missed you." She said, still holding on to Eren. "Plus, Annie's coming to visit in a week and after that I'm seeing Jean so we won't have much time together. I wanted to invite Armin too."

At that he actually felt bad for treating her that way. But, was that gonna change it? Hell no.

"You can invite Armin over and walk around. I have stuff to do, we'll hand out tomorrow, ok?" He unlatched from her at last and took a step back, feeling like a jerk. 

"Ok..." She said, looking sad and a bit confused. "But, what stuff could you possibly have? We have nearly the same schedule and we're free now."

"Yeah I know, I just want to be alone for a while, you know?"

"But-"

"Yeah, I'll see you later ok?" He waved and turned around to see Christa. 

Those innocent big, blue eyes and that sweet smile was probably just a ruse. She was an adulterer. And probably fornicator too. 

"Hey, Christa, do you know where Levi is?" He said, trying to force a smile which probably ended up looking murderous. 

"Oh, yes, I think he's in the gardens, would you like me to call him up?" She asked in a chipper way though the look on her face suggested she was creeped out by Eren's look. 

"That's alright, I was heading there anyway." He stuffed his hands in his pockets in an unprincely matter. "By the way, I was wondering if you were still in a relationship with that tall freckled girl?"

"Ymir?" She asked confusedly before her mouth grew into a smile. "Yes, in fact, it'll five years soon. Might I ask why?"

"I was just curious. Congratulations." He waved her off and walked down the hall. 

"Thank you...?" He heard her say, obviously confused by the sudden question.

He didn't say 'you're welcome', because she didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve Ymir. Whoever that was. And she didn't deserve Mikasa either, didn't his sister know that once a cheater, always a cheater? Though maybe Mikasa just didn't care and he really didn't want to think that. 

He tried not to think about anything until he reached Levi. Lately, the man was a lot more understanding, he listened to Eren's problems, not without the occasional insult, but the prince had a feeling that it was more out of a loss for what to say than actual malice. 

"Lessons over?" Levi asked once the prince had arrived at the garden after quite a while of searching for the man. 

He sat down on the edge of the fountain while Levi hosed the rose bushes down. He could do anything else while Eren was at lessons but he always found the servant watering them, even if it was a job meant for the gardener. 

"Yeah." He answered shortly, still a bit lost in thought. 

"Is everything alright?" He raised an eyebrow, glancing at the boy but still aiming the hose at the flowers. 

"Yeah...not really...it's about Mikasa."

"Ah, the thing with her lady in waiting. What happened now?"

"Nothing's happened, it's just, we tell each other everything. I mean, EVERYTHING and that's the part that bothers me the most: she hasn't told me about this."

"Eren," the servant lost formality a long time ago, "she might just be ashamed to tell you about it, but maybe it's not even what you think. I might've misunderstood."

"What did you see?"

"Well...they were making out."

"Exactly." Eren said, very obviously annoyed at the defense. 

"Don't give me that look, brat. I'm just saying that there might be more to it. If your sister is the way you say, she wouldn't be involved with someone in a relationship." He said with a sigh. "I'm sure she'll tell you when she's ready, ok?"

Eren nodded because Levi and Mikasa were strangely similar in a lot of things and maybe it was true. 

"What you should be worried about is finding a princess to wife." Levi said, master at changing the subject. 

"Ugh, don't remind me." Eren groaned as he shielded his eyes from the sunlight. "It's so hard."

"I'm pretty sure it's in your strategy, because I've never had a problem finding a mate." Levi smirked. 

"It is not." The prince rolled his eyes. "I can totally attract someone, I'm just not interested in the same old conversations with the same princesses who always have the exact same aspirations: 'get married and serve their husband' and they obviously aren't interested in a prince that expects them to have, you know, a life."

"I'm pretty sure that's just an excuse, if you had more game, you'd be married with three kids by now." He teased. 

"I swear it's not. I have plenty of game."

"Yeah sure."

"Really!" Eren defended, standing up. "I'm very passionate and I'm very romantic at heart. Also, I pay attention to every little detail of the people I care about." 

"I find that hard to believe, you're always spaced out, even when someone talks to you. Either that or you're angry for some reason, so I doubt you even have time to think at all."

"I'm serious. For example, I notice you're humor is very vulgar, and you have this blank expression when you're bored, like you're so done with life. And you obviously like flowers, maybe because of your friend's last name, and you drink tea like it's always the last time you'll drink it."

"Ah, so I'm someone you care about?" He laughed softly. 

"Totally, you're the only person I can talk to right now, and if you were a princess, I would've married you already."

"Is that so?" He scoffed. "What makes you think I'd even say 'yes'?"

"Well," Eren walked over and plugged the prettiest rose he could see on the bush, "I would've romanced you really hard."

"I'm crying."

"You didn't let me finish." Eren laughed. "You would totally fall for my eyes, and you'd dream of running your fingers through my hair every single night." 

"That bird nest? No, thank you."

"But, you didn't deny the part about my eyes."

"You got me there, but it's more about your smile if you ask me."

"Got it." Eren flashed a grin before kneeling. "So, let's pretend this rose is a ring and you're already hopelessly in love with me."

Levi didn't say anything, just rolled his eyes. 

"I'd tell you all about how beautiful you are and I'd tell you how happy you make me, even if you're rude as hell and you make me curse a lot. You're still funny and honest and have hidden talents and make the best tea ever."

"I'm swooning."

"You should be." He grabbed Levi's hand and held the rose out. "Because I'd tell you how much I loved you and how attractive you are. And then I'd ask you to marry me."

"Is that all?" 

"We'd have kids that clean after themselves and we'd teach them a lot of shit jokes and we'd all drink black tea together as a family."

"Is that take back what I said, I'm literally swooning right now." Levi said that even though his face and body were still as a stone. 

"Then I'll catch you." Eren stood and dipped Levi, something that the man obviously didn't expect. "And I'll put this rose in your hair."

He said as he did it, smiling the whole time, and it was all in good fun right? At least, he thought so as he held Levi. 

"You're a huge dork." Levi said, completely serious, but a light blush was dusted on his cheeks. 

"I'm a romantic. There's a difference."

"You can let me go now, 'honey'." Levi shot after a while. 

"Oh, right." Eren laughed, letting go of Levi.

To his surprise, Levi was playing along and kept the flower in his hair, even adjusted it so it wouldn't fall, and it was pretty cute for such a grumpy man. 

"Eren? What's going on?" A very suspicious Mikasa approached. 

Either she came out of nowhere or Eren was too lost in the 'joke' to realize she was there. 

"We were just messing around, weren't you with Armin?"

"He hasn't arrived yet." She shot Levi a suspicious look that he returned with a glare. "I need to talk to you Eren."

"Didn't we already talk?"

"I need to talk again." She linked her arm in his and pulled him into the castle before he could argue.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this super late because with all the midterms and protects I've had no time at all to work on this. Plus, I'd actually written this chapter out but accidentally erased it and I was to frustrated with school stuff to rewrite it all >.

All Eren could do as he was being pulled away was roll his eyes when Levi was looking, as if that would prove he wasn't being pushed over by Mikasa. But, the look on Levi's face suggested he didn't believe it, and to be honest, he himself wouldn't believe it either. 

Levi's face was out of Eren's vision as he was pulled into an empty room in the castle, rudely shoved into by Mikasa. 

"What the hell!?" Eren yelled as he rubbed the part that was formerly in Mikasa's death grip. 

"I should be asking the asking you the same thing. What the hell were you doing with that servant?"

He rolled his eyes immediately, because whatever Mikasa would be saying next, he really didn't need to hear it from her. 

"We were just messing around. It was nothing." 

"It didn't look like nothing." She shook her head. 

"He's just a friend, ok?"

"He's a servant."

"A servant I happen to talk and hang out with."

"There's clearly more to it than that." She took a step closer. "It's in the way you look at him and he doesn't look against it either!"

"Oh god, not you too." He glared. "Everyone keeps saying that. I don't care, I know how I feel and it's nothing like that. I'm not gonna drop a good friendship because of suspicions."

"Do you have any idea what you're doing? You're leading him on. If you get too close to him, you'd be breaking a huge rule."

"Aren't you breaking a huge rule too?" He glared. 

"Ok, I know I clean off with a lot of commoners but nothing usually goes on and if it does, I take care of myself. It's never anything more because I make sure we both agree it's not going any farther than that."

"That's not what I'm talking about. What about Christa? And her girlfriend?"

"What about them?" She asked with a genuine confusion that pissed Eren off.

"She's a servant also, I suppose it's fine to be friends with her?"

"That's not even what this is about." She furrowed her brows. "And Christa has been a dear friend since before I even came here."

"So, it's ok for you two to be lip-locking?"

She stared at him with a face that suggested she was considering professional help for him. 

"What are you even talking about?"

"You and Christa!" He raised his voice. "I have sources, he told me he saw you two together."

"We're together all the time! She. Is. My. Lady. In. Waiting."

"You were kissing!"

"What!?" She gasped. "Where the hell did he get that from? If your 'sources' is that Levi guy then he's clearly a liar that enjoys making rumors up about the royal family!"

"You don't even know him, you have no right to say that. I trust him."

"More than you trust your own sister?" She asked incredulously. 

"You're not even my real sister!" The hurt on her face made a pain creep up to his chest but he was too mad to quit it. "You know why I believe him? Because my so called sister hasn't even been acting like herself."

"Again, what the hell are you even talking about?" 

"I can't put my finger on it but you've changed a lot, and you've been going to Annie's kingdom frequently too, I bet you go there to freely suck Christa's face and Annie probably covers for you and thinks it's all great that you're making out with a taken woma-"

The knuckles colliding with Eren's face interrupted him, he toppled back, gripping the side of his face. 

"First of all, don't you dare accuse me of ever doing anything like that, or Christa. You know her, she's perfectly happy with Ymir and she would never ruin that. Secondly, don't bring Annie into this, she is an amazing person who would never approve of that." The red in her face showed her anger. 

"I'm sure she is, but I'm sure she wouldn't ca-"

"Just shut up." Mikasa raised her hand, shutting Eren up immediately. "I don't want to hear you talking about her...unless it's good things."

She stormed off, leaving Eren no time to apologize. He had to admit the stuff he said was uncalled for and he had no idea why he'd gotten so angry at the accusation that he was into Levi. Being a prince, they're had been countless rumors of him dating other people, but he'd never gotten mad or anything because he knew they weren't true and it usually faded away after a while. 

So, why was he so angry that he had to be such a dick to Mikasa? He couldn't even begin to explain. But, he was certainly mad at Levi now for the false information.


End file.
